News

Thank you to Dacorum’s Litter Heroes

by
Kate Norval | Mar 30, 2017

The Great British Spring Clean has come to an end, after more than 1,500 incredible volunteers from Dacorum took to the streets to care for their local area.

We encouraged community groups, schools, individuals and businesses to step up and take part in Keep Britain Tidy’s biggest community litter-pick yet and they didn’t disappoint. In total volunteers collected over 250 bags of rubbish and 150 bags of recycling throughout the month-long litter blitz.

Well done to all of the dedicated litter heroes who took part in this campaign for your kind efforts and great show of community spirit.

Craig Thorpe, Group Manager Environmental Services, said, “A huge thank you to all those involved for your hard work taking part in the Great British Spring Clean. Your actions have not only helped to keep our neighbourhoods clean and tidy, but act as an inspiration to others to keep our areas clean in future.”

A team from Bennetts End Adventure Playground kick-started the campaign on 17 February, with over 30 youngsters sprucing up the local woodland outside of their playground.

The largest litter pick saw 250 children from Two Waters Primary School clearing up their school grounds and surrounding streets. Meanwhile, our top litter pickers were Dacorum’s Tenant Involvement team who brought together a group of dedicated residents from Leverstock Green and collected a fantastic 37 bags in total!

Domino’s staff took to the streets in super-hero outfits and did a great job bravely tackling litter in the town centre and industrial estate. Dacorum’s final litter pick is taking place in Aldbury on 1 April, with a dedicated team of local people litter-picking on behalf of Aldbury Parish Council.

More than 300,000 people in the UK have taken part in the national Great British Spring Clean campaign. Altogether the national total was over 500,000 bags of rubbish, containing enough litter to fill 70,000 wheeled bins!

To complement the Great British Spring Clean, we also visited local primary schools and taught nearly 900 children about litter and recycling. Pupils learned about the damage litter can cause to pets, wildlife and our environment as well as the importance of recycling rubbish so that it can be turned into new materials.

If you would like to carry out a litter pick in your local area, we can loan you litter pick sticks and bags all year round. Please email cleansafegreen@dacorum.gov.uk to request these.